Warehouse fire 100 percent contained at Pueblo Chemical Depot

Photo: Vickie Cantrell. March 24, 2018.

PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - Authorities say a warehouse fire Saturday was never in danger of reaching an enormous stockpile of chemical weapons.

The warehouse is on U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot grounds, and considering there are 780,000 mustard gas shells housed there, it was definitely cause for worry when the fire flared up Saturday morning.

But Col. Christopher Grice, the commander of the depot, assured 11 News that the fire was nowhere near the chemical storage area.

"We are probably 4 miles away from that location. This fire in no way endangers that stockpile," he said.

The fire started in an old warehouse and destroyed both the warehouse and a second empty structure. A third building was well on its way to becoming rubble before firefighters got a handle on it.

While the fire burned, a large, dark plume of smoke was visible from Pueblo and surrounding areas. With another windy and dry day on tap, Grice said there were concerns about the fire spreading beyond the buildings. Great teamwork among a large group of firefighters kept that from happening.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.